


A Dragon's Worst Nightmare

by sialynn



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Gajevy - Freeform, Nightmares, smut in later chapters, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-26
Packaged: 2018-01-06 03:54:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1102101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sialynn/pseuds/sialynn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gajeel hasn't seemed right lately, but he isn't willing to open up in front of other people, so when he goes off on a job Levy takes the chance to tag along and find out what he has been hiding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nightmare in the Forest

Gajeel had started sitting at Levy's table in the guild a couple weeks ago. At first it was a bit awkward to have someone besides Jet and Droy sitting with her, but she quickly came to enjoy his company. He was quieter than Jet and Droy, and spent his time there either watching her read or staring into his ale. After a while, Levy started staring back. Not when he was looking, of course, but whenever his eyes were fixed on his pint, she was watching him. This last week he had been different. Dark circles had appeared under his eyes and he was visibly fighting against the weight of his eyelids to stay awake. 

He finished off a pint and got up to get another.

"Lily?" Levy asked quietly. The cat looked up from where he sat on the table.

"What is it?"

"Is Gajeel okay? He doesn't look well."

"That's something you should ask Gajeel about." Panther Lily hopped off the table and walked away as Gajeel returned, leaving them alone. Gajeel dropped heavily into his seat and raised an eyebrow at Lily.

"Where's he going?" He asked.

"Gajeel," Levy began. He looked up at her, his eyes barely open. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?" He replied quickly and defensively. 

"You're exhausted. Have you been sleeping?"

"What's with the sudden concern?" He muttered, turning away from her. 

"I'm only asking because I'm worried about you!" She snapped back, her voice quickly rising.

"Well I'm fine!" He was nearly shouting back at her. Nearly everyone in the guild hall was staring now. He became aware of this and lowered his voice. "Just, leave it alone. I'm fine." Levy bit her quivering lip and blinked away the tears that welled in her eyes as he stormed out of the hall.

He didn't sit with her for a couple of days after that, and he didn't look like he had gotten any more rest. Finally he went to the request board and pulled a flyer down without even looking at it.

"I'm heading out," he barked to Mira as he walked out of the guild.

"See you soon, Gajeel!" She called back with a wave and a smile.

"Mira," Levy shouted, jumping up from her seat. "I'm going with him!" Levy caught up to Gajeel a little ways down the street, after convincing Jet and Droy that they didn't need to go with her.

"What job are we going on?" Levy asked. Gajeel raised an eyebrow at her.

"We?"

"Well, yeah. I'm coming with you."

"You're not still doing that whole worrying thing, are you?" He asked gruffly.

"None of your business if I am!" She said, crossing her arms. She uncrossed them only a moment later and reached up to tap on his shoulder. "Um, Gajeel? Could we stop by my apartment? By the looks of the request you grabbed, this is going to take at least a few days." Gajeel sighed. He looked down at Levy, intending to tell her to go back to the guild and leave him be, but her lips were pursed and her big eyes staring up at him.. He only grunted and nodded.

 

It didn't take Levy long to pack a bag. Gajeel waited outside on the street, and she was back within ten minutes. 

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"The train station," he replied. She pulled the flyer out of his hand. 

"Did you even read this? We have to go to Endreus. Trains don't run anywhere near there."

"So, we're walking?"

"Yup! This way!"

 

Gajeel was grumpy from being so tired, and on top of that in a sour mood from Levy tagging along on his mission. 

"This doesn't seem too difficult. We only have to track down a book for the client," Levy said, reading the request.

"Then why did you come?" Gajeel growled. Levy pretended she hadn't heard him. She stopped in a clearing, looking around.

"It's getting dark, why don't we set up camp here?" Gajeel knew that she wasn't really asking when she began setting up a tent before he had even replied. He dropped down and leaned back against a tree, laying his hands across his stomach and staring up at the darkening sky. Levy set up her tent quickly and ducked inside.

"Goodnight, Gajeel!" She called out.

"Sure," he said, not really listening. A couple of minutes later a small light flicked on inside of her tent and he heard the shuffling of pages.

_She could have just said she wanted to read._  He thought with a small smile. He sighed and shifted his weight against the tree. He didn't plan on sleeping tonight. Levy read for hours, flipping a page every couple of minutes until he heard the leather cover of the book snap shut. She then turned out her light and it was quiet for a while. The stars were out now, and you could see them much better out here in the woods than in Magnolia. Gajeel looked back down when he heard the flap of Levy's tent fall closed. She was halfway between the tent and him, crawling across the forest floor on her hands and knees.

"What are you doing, shrimp?" He asked.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" She inquired.

"That wasn't an answer," he said.

"Neither was that," she retorted.

"Well, why aren't you sleeping?"

"I'm worried that you're not sleeping."

"Quit worryin'. I'm the Iron Dragon Slayer! I'm fine!"

Levy had reached him now. She leaned forwards until her face was only inches from him, and she squinted, peering at him through the darkness. Gajeel tried to pull away but the tree was behind him, and he ended up squinting back just as intensely.

"I don't believe you," Levy finally said. Gajeel was biting the insides of his cheeks, trying to keep his composure.

_How does this shrimp see through me?_

"Something is wrong with you, Gajeel."

_I'm not gonna let her get to me._

"Tell me!" Levy ordered. Gajeel had never heard her speak so harshly.

"I said I'm fine!" He choked out. He pushed her away and she fell back, looking up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Gajeel," she whispered, her voice cracking. 

"No, wait, I didn't mean to," he reached out to her, but she jumped away from his hand.

"I was only trying to help!" She shouted. "You're important to me, and I care about you, but you clearly don't feel the same way about me!" She turned on her heel and took off into the woods. 

"Levy!" Gajeel staggered to his feet and tried to follow her, but he was too exhausted to even follow her scent. "Levy!"

After an hour of searching, Gajeel wandered back to their little camp. He sat down in the clearing outside of her tent to wait for her. He figured that Levy would come back sooner or later, after all, she had left her books behind. His eyelids only grew heavier as the night wore on, and he eventually drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Huh?" Gajeel sat up suddenly when he woke. It was still dark, he was still in the woods, and Levy wasn't back yet. Guttural groans sounded out from every direction. Gajeel couldn't pinpoint the animalistic sounds he was hearing.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" He demanded, jumping to his feet.

A man stepped out of the shadows and Gajeel's blood ran cold. The man's neck was broken, his head hung limply over his chest. Blood was plastered across his skin and drenched the white tunic he wore. His fingers turned to talons and he charged at Gajeel without even lifting his eyes to see him.

_Move!_ Gajeel was frozen.  _Damn it, you fucking coward! Just move!_

He felt the talons tear into his chest, tearing flesh from bone and digging his heart out from behind his ribs. He started screaming. It was a pain unlike anything he had ever felt. It was unimaginable agony. Gajeel fell backwards, collapsing into the grass. The man crouched over him, baring his sharp, serrated teeth. He held Gajeel's still beating heart in his hands and slowly raised it to his mouth.

"Levy!" Gajeel screamed, his voice as broken as his body.

"Gajeel!" He tried to turn his head, to see where her voice was coming from, but it was all around him. The man dug his talons into Gajeel's chest again and he was screaming once more.

"Gajeel!" 

_Levy, where are you?_

* * *

Gajeel woke up screaming. He shot up off the ground and his hands flew to his chest as he gasped for air. His eyes darted around wildly, searching for that man.

"You're okay, you're okay!" Levy assured him desperately, her hands clutching his shoulders. "It was just a nightmare." He tried to stand, but only fell back. His legs couldn't even hold him up.

"Just sit, Gajeel. You're okay now. Just rest for a while."

He couldn't catch his breath. He was gasping and choking and struggling to take in even a single breath. Suddenly Levy's arms were around him and her face was pressed against his chest.

"It was only a nightmare. It was just a nightmare. It wasn't real. You're okay. I've got you. You're safe," Levy whispered as she hugged him. For some reason, the tighter she squeezed him the easier it was to breathe. It took nearly an hour for him to calm down, and Levy talked to him the entire time. She pulled away when she felt that his breathing was back to normal. She held his face in her small, soft hands and stared into his eyes.

"I thought I told you to quit worryin' about me," he grumbled, trying to look away. Levy turned his head and forced him to face her.

"You're not okay," she said. She stood up and held out a hand to help him. He leaned against a tree and waited while she packed up her things. "Come on." He started to follow her but stumbled and nearly fell. Levy slid up under his arm and wrapped her own around his waist to support him.

"Just hold on," she told him. "We're going home."


	2. Return to Magnolia

Gajeel didn't pay much attention to where Levy was leading him until he caught a whiff of booze and the sound of familiar voices. His head snapped up to see the Fairy Tail guild hall just ahead of them.

"No," he said, as loudly as he could.

"You need help, Gajeel! Help that I can't give you."

"No," he repeated. "Don't take me there."

"They're your friends, Gajeel. They would all do anything to help you."

"I don't want anyone to see me like this, shrimp. Isn't there somewhere else we can go? Please?" Gajeel, the prideful and stubborn Gajeel, was begging her not to take him back to Fairy Tail. Levy couldn't say no. 

 

Lucy and Mira were standing in the doorway as Levy and Gajeel walked away.

"Hey, look!" Lucy said, pointing after them. "Do you think they finally hooked up?"

"I hope so. Those two are meant for each other," Mira said softly, smiling. 

 

Gajeel let Levy drop him onto a bed. He groaned and looked up at the ceiling. It wasn't his ceiling. He turned his head to look around.

"Is this," he began.

"It's my apartment," Levy finished the sentence for him. "I wasn't sure where you lived, and I couldn't get you to answer me."

"I don't remember you asking me," he said, then he froze. "Um, Levy, am I in your bed?"

"Yes," she said, appearing at his side with a glass of water. "Is there a problem with that?" He flushed red and shook his head. She helped him to sit up and put pillows behind him, then sat down next to him on the bed. She pushed the glass of water into his hand. "Drink." He obeyed and handed the empty glass back. She put a hand on his forehead and frowned.

"You don't have a fever.. When did the nightmares start?" She asked.

"I'm not a child, Levy. They're just stupid dreams."

"Don't lie to me, Gajeel," Levy said coolly. "If they're just stupid dreams, if you're really fine, then get up and go home. Now." He didn't move. She sighed. "I don't know what's happening to you, but it isn't something to be ashamed of. Swallow your pride for a bit and let me take care of you, okay? Now when did the dreams start?"

"Just over a week ago," he finally gave her the answer.

"Tell me about them," she ordered.

"I, uh," he hesitated, not eager to recount his nightmares.

"Gajeel," she said with a sigh.

"I die. Always. Every single time I close my eyes for more than a second I die, and I can't do anything about it. And I don't watch myself die or just see it through my eyes, I feel every second of the pain and fear and I just," his voice was rising as he spoke until he was shouting and tears were welling up in his eyes. "I can't do it anymore, Levy! I can't die again! I lose a piece of myself every night and I can't do it anymore!" Levy moved so she was sitting on Gajeel's lap, straddling him, and wrapped her arms around the Dragon Slayer. He let himself collapse into her arms, his body shaking as he finally released the pain and fear he'd been holding in for so long.

"Shhh," Levy whispered in his ear, running her fingers through his hair while her other hand slowly rubbed his back. "You can't do everything by yourself. You need to learn to lean on your friends, on me."

"Levy," he said, fondly. One of his hands snaked around her waist and the other came up to rest on the back of her neck. She could feel the cold metal of the piercings in his forearm pressed against her back. She pulled back to look at him. Her hand that had been in his hair pulled back to lay softly on his cheek. They sat there for what seemed like hours, staring into each other's eyes and listening to each other's heartbeats.

"Levy," he breathed. Her cheeks flushed red and she pulled her gaze away from his. Now it was his hand on the back of her neck that forced her to face him. "When you said that I was important to you, that you cared about me, when you said I didn't feel the same way... I do. You're more important to me than anyone else in Fairy Tail, than anyone else in Fiore. I just want you to know-" He was cut off by Levy's soft lips crashing into his. She pulled away after only a moment and smiled at him. When he didn't smile back, hers quickly faded away.

"I'm sorry, was that not okay?" She worried, quickly backtracking.

"No, no! That was fine, I mean, that was good! I just," his face fell, his eyes looked hollow. "I think these dreams are killing me."

 

Levy was back at the Fairy Tail guild an hour later. She told Gajeel she had to return their request flyer so someone else could take the job, but she pulled Wendy and Lucy aside as soon as she got there.

"What is it, Levy?" Wendy asked.

"I need your help with something," Levy said. "And it's very important that you don't let anyone else know about it!"

"What's wrong? Did something happen between you and Gajeel yesterday?" Lucy asked.

"No, well, yeah, but, um, that's not the point! Will you please just come with me?" Levy stammered her way through the sentence, finally spitting out the last question.

 

Gajeel was furious when Levy showed up with the other two girls.

"I asked you for one thing!" He stood unsteadily, towaring over Levy and shouting down at her.

"I don't know how to help you, Gajeel! We had to tell someone!" Levy tried to explain. Lucy and Wendy stood in the doorway and exchanged a nervous glance. They didn't know how to react. They were so distracted by his anger that they hadn't yet noticed the paleness of his skin or the way he swayed back and forth as he stood.

"How hard is it you keep your mouth shut, shrimp? I'm sure we could have found an answer in one of your thousands of books but no, you just had to... You had to... To tell..." He trailed off and his legs gave out under him.

"Gajeel!" Levy cried out, rushing forwards to catch him as he fell. Lucy ran over and helped Levy get Gajeel back onto the bed.

"Is this why you called us?" Lucy asked.

"Is he sick? He doesn't seem exactly sick to me," Wendy said, resting her hand on his forehead.

"Get offa me," Gajeel muttered, his voice nearly inaudible. Levy sighed sadly and sat on the edge of the bed next to Gajeel. 

"You need sleep, Gajeel," she said.

"No!" His eyes snapped open and he struggled to sit up. "No, no, I can't!" Levy put her hands on his chest and pushed him back down. 

"Stop pushing yourself!" She snapped at him. He looked up at her, his eyes were filled with fear.

"I can't, Levy. I can't sleep. You know I can't." He must have forgotten that the others were there because his hand was reaching for hers, but he couldn't even lift his arm. "Don't, don't make me sleep." Her lip quivered as she rested her tiny hand on his face again and whispered to him.

"I won't make you do anything, Gajeel. I only want to help you."

"I can't stay awake," he breathed.

"That's okay," Levy told him.

"No, I can't sleep," his voice grew quieter every time he tried to speak. He slowly drifted off to the sound of Levy's sweet voice and the feeling of her soft skin on his. When he was finally asleep she sighed and looked back to Lucy and Wendy. 

"He has these nightmares, they're awful. He wakes up screaming every time he falls asleep. It's only a matter of time before he does now. He says he dies in them, every single time. He hasn't really slept in a week," Levy's voice caught in her throat and she ran her fingers through his hair. "He's wasting away. He's going to die." Wendy crawled up on the bed next to Levy so she was leaning over the sleeping Gajeel. She put her hands on his chest and the familiar blue glow eminated from her palms. She kept this up for nearly five minutes, until the glow flickered out and Wendy was dripping with sweat.

"I'm sorry, Levy. My healing magic isn't helping," Wendy apologized. Levy's lip started quivering again.

"That's okay, Wendy. I didn't think it would, but I just had to try." Levy took a deep breath to compose herself. "Lucy, I need your help researching nightmares. There's got to be a reason why this is happening to him." Lucy took Levy's hand and looked her in the eyes.

"We can't do this alone. It's clear that Gajeel doesn't have long. I know he doesn't want to, but we have to get more help. We should talk to Makarov and Natsu."

"Gajeel will be angry," Levy said.

"He'll be pissed," Lucy agreed. "but he'll also be alive."

"Okay. Will you two go and get them? Only Natsu and the master. No one else! Please bring them here. Gajeel is in no state to be moved back to the guild."

 

Lucy and Wendy hurried back to the guild, and Levy stayed to take care of Gajeel. It was only minutes after they left that started screaming. Levy grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him.

"Gajeel, wake up!" His eyes stayed shut, his face contorted in fear and he screaming as if his very soul was being torn to pieces. "Gajeel!" She shook him again then suddenly found herself being thrown across the room. She slammed into the opposite wall and dropped to the floor, gasping as the wind was knocked out of her. She tried to get up to return to him but she fell back again, coughing violently.

"Gajeel!" She shouted, hoping that the sound of her voice would wake him. There was another voice shouting from her window as it was pried open from the outside. Natsu and Happy came in through the window and stood over the still-screaming Gajeel on Levy's bed. Natsu pulled back a flaming fist and punched Gajeel in the face. The Iron Dragon Slayer's eyes finally snapped open and he looked around frantically, taking in his surroundings. He saw Levy sitting against the far wall, and the Levy-sized dent in the wall over her head and guilt overwhelmed him. He turned and tried to stand to go to her but he collapsed back into the bed.

"I'm sorry, Levy, I didn't mean to," he wheezed.

"No, it's okay, I'm fine," she assured him, her voice not much stronger than his. Natsu still stood over Gajeel, slowly taking in the situation.

"I was supposed to come help Gajeel, but it looks like Gajeel hurt Levy..." He said, putting together the pieces.

"You have to help Gajeel," Levy begged. "He didn't mean to push me, he wasn't even awake." Gajeel stared up at Natsu, the expression on his face quickly turning from confusion and guilt to anger.

"Why the hell is he here?" He demanded to know.

"Wendy couldn't help you, so I sent for Natsu and Master Makarov," Levy explained.

"You just keep telling people! Why can't you just keep this between us?" Gajeel snarled.

"You're going to die if we don't find someone who can help you!" Levy shouted back. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"

"All of you, quiet!" Master Makarov had arrived when they weren't paying attention. He walked across Levy's bedroom and hopped up onto the edge of her bed, standing next to Natsu. "Gajeel, Lucy told me what is happening to you. Can you sit up?"

"No," Gajeel admitted reluctantly. 

"How long has it been since you've really truly slept?"

"One week."

"You die in these nightmares, correct?"

"Yes, master."

Makarov grumbled something unintelligible and stroked his mustache.

"I am afraid," he said. "I have some bad news.


	3. Chapter 3

Makarov took a long roundabout way of explaining that, basically, Gajeel had somehow been put under a curse that turned his own mind against him. His unconscious mind was convinced that his conscious self was an enemy, and was trying to kill him. The only time Gajeel was capable of fighting back was in his sleep, when his conscious self and unconscious mind could meet, but because he hadn't understood what was happening he was paralyzed every time his unconsciousness came after him.

"I can put you inside of his mind so you can help him, but it's very dangerous, for both you and Gajeel," Makarov said. 

"Is there any other way to save him?" Levy asked, stroking the currently unconscious Gajeel's hair. Makarov shook his head.

"I'll do it," Natsu said. 

"Really?" Levy's eyes lit up as she looked up at him.

"If Gajeel dies, I won't get to fight him anymore!" Natsu explained, laughing.

"That's your reason?" Levy sighed.

"Natsu, you have to be absolutely sure," Makarov said sternly. "If you can't save Gajeel in time, you'll die with him. If you kill his conscious or unconscious mind instead of his mental manifestation of the curse, you'll kill him and yourselves. Even though Gajeel's unconscious mind will be attacking you, every blow to it is a blow to him."

"How will we tell the difference between Gajeel's mind and the curse?" Levy wondered.

"I have no idea," Makarov admitted. "You'll have to figure that out on your own. I'll stay here and keep Gajeel asleep so he can help you from the inside."

"I'm coming too!" Lucy announced. She and Wendy had just returned and were standing in the doorway to Levy's bedroom.

"I can help keep Gajeel sleeping!" Wendy said, pulling two chairs up to the bed for herself and the master.

"Okay!" Natsu said. "Let's do this!"

* * *

Natsu, Lucy, and Levy woke up on her bedroom floor and saw something they didn't expect happening on her bed. It was Gajeel and Levy from earlier, with Gajeel propped up against the pillows and Levy sitting across his lap, her lips pressed against his and his eyes wide open in surprise. Then the dream-Levy pulled away and started speaking. Real-Levy found it extremely unsettling to be staring at herself.

"Um, Levy," Lucy asked. "Is that you and Gajeel? Is this what's going on in his head right now?" Levy blushed bright red and stared down at her feet while she sputtered out the answer.

"It's, ah, this is something that happened earlier."

"So it isn't him," Lucy said. "It's only a memory. We need to find the real, and conscious Gajeel!" They had to drag Natsu out of the room, and Lucy slapped her hand over his mouth as they left because he was incoherently blabbering on and on about Levy and Gajeel.

They stepped through the doorway and out of the room and suddenly they were in the forest. It was the same forest Levy and Gajeel had slept in the night before, but Levy wasn't there now. Gajeel stood on the opposite side of the clearing from a pale, bloodied figure. As Levy looked closer at the figure she only became more frightened of it. Skin white as snow and a black mane of hair to match Gajeel's, this man's neck was brutally snapped and blood was splattered across his body. He crouched, raising his clawed hands as if he were about to attack Gajeel, who didn't seem to even be breathing.

"Gajeel!" Levy cried out. He turned at the sound of her voice, and he looked both relieved and terrified to be seeing her here. The figure turned as well, and a sick grin spread across his face when he saw Gajeel's reaction to Levy. In a split second the figure's stance shifted and it was charging directly at Levy, bloody claws reaching out for her. 

"No!" Gajeel shouted. His arm quickly turned into an iron pole and shot out at the figure, but Gajeel's iron didn't reach the attacker before a ball of fire blasted him into the shadows of the woods. When the figure was attacked Gajeel paled and dropped to the ground. Levy rushed over to him.

"Natsu, you idiot!" She scolded, helping Gajeel to stand. "That was Gajeel's unconscious mind! Even if it attacks us, we can't hurt it!"

"My what?" Gajeel was completely lost. "What are you talking about? What are you guys doing here?"

"Gajeel, this is going to sound a little weird, but we're inside of your mind with you. You were cursed, and we're here to help you," Levy told him. He stared at her for a while, thinking, then his eyes darkened.

"Why the hell are Natsu and Lucy here?" He demanded.

"We needed their help!"

"Damn it, Levy!" He roared. He whipped around and deftly punched a tree in half before he turned back to face her, still seething. "You brought people inside of my fucking head!"

"I saw you kissing Levyyy!" Natsu sang. Lucy smacked the back of his head and started scolding him while Levy tried to appease Gajeel.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn? Why can't you just let people help you?" Levy asked angrily, standing up on her tiptoes as she shouted at him.

"I don't want your help!" Gajeel snarled, clenching his fists. Levy reached up and grabbed his face in her hands, pulling him down to her level.

"You'd better listen to me right now because I'm only going to say this once," she whispered, her voice a mix of anger, affection, and urgency. "I don't care if you want our help or not, because you need it. You will die if we can't destroy the curse's manifestation in time, so you're going to swallow your pride and bite your tongue for now. You can be angry at me after we save you." Gajeel's fists unclenched and his jaw relaxed.

"Okay," he finally agreed. "But I'm gonna kill Natsu after this."


End file.
